The "Venezuelan government's domination" of the judiciary and its "weakening of democratic checks and balances" have contributed to a "precarious human rights situation" in Venezuela, said the NGO Human Right Watch (HRW) in its annual report released on Monday.

"Without judicial checks on its action, President Hugo Chávez's government has systematically undermined journalistic freedom of expression, workers' freedom of association, and the ability of human rights groups to promote human rights," said the report released by the NGO in Brussels.

"The Venezuelan government's domination of the judiciary and its weakening of democratic checks and balances have contributed to a precarious human rights situation," said the document that includes cases of police abuse and the prosecution of government critics, among others.

To show the lack of independence of Venezuelan courts, Human Rights Watch (HRW) mentioned the case of Judge María Lourdes Afiuni, detained in December 2009 and for whom Chávez asked, in a public event, the "maximum prison sentence," AFP reported.

According to HRW, Afiuni, was still held "in deplorable conditions" in a Caracas women's prison as of October 2010. She was accused of corruption after having authorized the conditional release of Eligio Cedeño, a banker indicted for fraud. Cedeño fled the country shortly afterwards.

Source: ElUniversal.com